3D Printing & Robots at MD&M West

Wandering the aisles and meeting vendors for interviews at the recent MD&M West and co-located shows in Anaheim, Calif., gave a mixed view of current manufacturing and assembly processes.

There are lots of ways you can build a product, from high-speed robotic assembly lines to small, refrigerator-sized 3D printing machines that make actual metal production parts for medical or aerospace uses. Two of these stood out from the rest.

In 3D printing, 30 percent of the business now consists of medical applications, and that proportion is growing, Andrew Snow, director of EOS North America, told us. EOS had on display plastic patient-specific devices, such as a cutting guide for knee surgery. Another, FHC's STarFix mobile fixture that fits on a patient's head, holds the probe used in a deep probe tumor biopsy, or in deep probe stimulation for Parkinson's patients. These fixtures reduce operating room time and increase patient comfort.

A titanium bone rasp for hollowing out femurs before inserting an implant can be custom-designed for a specific patient's bone using EOS' laser sintering additive manufacturing technology. (Source: Within Technologies)

But the thing that impressed me the most was how costs are going down in titanium implants, one of the biggest medical applications. For example, a titanium hip implant, an acetabular cup made by Within Technologies with EOS systems, has an optimized lattice structure and surface pores that help speed integration with the patient's bone. Eighteen of these can be made in 20 hours, with an overall net cost of $70 each, which includes capital equipment depreciation, said Snow. That's an insanely low price.

Other titanium devices made by Within using EOS' direct laser sintering (DSL) machines include spinal and finger implants, as well as a bone rasp that surgeons use to clean and hollow out the femur before inserting an implant.

Snow said the additive manufacturing (AM) industry will continue to focus on rapid prototyping, but that there's a definite shift toward manufacturing production parts, especially medical and dental implants and devices. AM will also boost the growth of electronic spare parts warehousing, where designs are inventoried electronically instead of parts warehoused physically.

In robotics, my most memorable visit was to the Rethink Robotics' booth where I interviewed Eric Foellmer, marketing communications manager, and saw the company's Baxter robot demonstration. Unlike other industrial robots, Baxter isn't dangerous enough to be surrounded by a cage. I think the company has a good argument for what Foellmer said was a rethink (word play intended) from the ground up of how industrial robots can be made safe enough to interact with people so both can work together side by side. The company used some revolutionary technology -- at least in industrial robotics -- to make this possible.

Baxter was designed for small to midsized companies. A few fundamental principles governed its design. First, it had to be able to operate close to people outside a cage. "Baxter lets people work collaboratively with robots," said Foellmer. "We want it to be an addition to the line." (You can watch a video of Baxter doing the same things I saw here.)

Folks, the discussion here about SawStop potentially being applied to robots working with humans gave me an idea. Please check out this post about possibly starting a Design Ideas forum and tell us what you think: http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1392&doc_id=259964

78RPM, I agree about 3D printing making stuff that's too complex to do any other way. That's definitely one of its big draws. BTW, the photo in this story doesn't show the $70 titanium part that bone grows around; that's an acetabular cup. The photo shows a titanium bone rasp for hollowing out femurs, as the caption states.

Even more than changing the production lines, that sawstop works at the expense of saw functionality. Consider that it stops the blade with a ridgid stop lever jammed into the swas teeth. So it does stop fast enough to prevent an injury , which is within one tooths distance on the blade. So the blade attachment may be damaged, and for sure the blade is sort of reshaped a bit, and that expensive stop actuator must be replaced, since the high presure charge has been used. So your saw is out of business until the expensive part is replaced. That may be OK for a home experimenor but it will be a big problem for folks using the saw for making a living. Then there is the question about what if you don't replace the driver, but instead just remove it. That means that you have defeated a safety device, and can be attacked by the OSHA man.

So while the sawstop is an interesting device, it is a big burden as well. Next question is how many folks do cut off fingers every year? Not that many, I don't think.

It's also easy to see why the power tool industry resists the technology, William K. The idea of implementing this technology raises the possibility of having to invest gigantic amounts of capital to re-tool their existing production lines.

Charles, The interesting point associated with that SawStop invention came from the scientist that I was working with at a previous job. He pointed out that nobody makes any money off of safety devices until you can get the government to force everybody to use them. Examination of the safety things that we have today does show that it is absolutely correct. So in re3ality it is seldom about safety, it is always about profit.

If everybody really wanted the safest car possible we would all be driving Volvos, but as you can see some folks consider other aspects to be more important.

And some safety features only benefit those who should be limited to driving speeds of under 20MPH, specifically the new stability control systems that we will be forced to purchase in the near future. One more reason to stick with older model cars.

Agreed, William K. There are several reasons why saw manufacturers didn't rush to adopt SawStop -- another of which is the licensing fees. I have to admit, though, the story of the SawStop inventor is an intriguing one.

Instead of sifting through huge amounts of technical data looking for answers to assembly problems, engineers can now benefit from 3M's new initiative -- 3M Assembly Solutions. The company has organized its wealth of adhesive and tape solutions into six typical application areas, making it easier to find the best products to solve their real-world assembly and bonding problems.

Many of the materials in this slideshow are resins or elastomers, plus reinforced materials, styrenics, and PLA masterbatches. Applications range from automotive and aerospace to industrial, consumer electronics and wearables, consumer goods, medical and healthcare, as well as sporting goods, and materials for protecting food and beverages.

Engineers trying to keep track of the ever-ballooning number of materials and machines for additive manufacturing and 3D printing now have some relief: a free searchable database with more than 350 machines and 450 different materials.

Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.